Side story episode 6
* * *
“So, brother, please don’t hurt yourself for the world anymore. Just live for your own happiness.”
The Empress of Lies, the Queen of Winter and Shadows, spoke.
At the same time, a cold air engulfed Dale, and when he woke up, so many things had changed.
An age where magic is dying.
Was it also thanks to that that the ice that had been imprisoning Lize broke?
─ Let’s play a game to protect the things that my brother loves.
After that, there was no sign of Shuve. Even though the circle of shadow still loomed over his heart, the old dark mother remained silent in response to Dale.
And in this world, there were no more things Dale loved. What that meant, Dale didn’t even want to imagine.
That’s why I had a nightmare where I was struggling in endless wandering and loneliness.
When Dale woke up from his nightmare, he saw Yuffie looking at his face with concern. Dale asked with a bitter smile.
“What did I say?”
“Who is that, Lize?”
“… … .”
Dale shut his mouth, and Upi hastily lowered her head and said.
“I’m sorry that you called my name so sadly… … I’m sorry.”
“It’s not something that Miss Uffie needs to apologize for.”
As he said that, Dale turned his head. Looking out the window, he saw that the dusk of the sun was already falling.
“Is there any other business that brings you to me?”
“Well, I don’t really have any business to attend to… … ”
“Yuppie said, mumbling.
“I just wanted to say thank you.”
“You have nothing to be thankful for from me.”
Dale answered blandly. There was silence for a moment, and then Upi spoke.
“… … I thought I would part ways with Uncle Dale here.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Then why didn’t you do that?”
“I said I would take you to a place where I could guarantee Miss Yuffie’s safety.”
Dale answered blandly.
“But that’s not the case here.”
“yes……?”
“This place too will soon be engulfed in the flames of revolution. It won’t be much different from Miss Yupi’s village.”
“That can’t be… … .”
Hearing those unexpected words, Yuffie held her breath.
“Then what will you do, sir?”
“There are people you need to find.”
Dale said blandly.
“I can’t even guarantee that I’ll be able to find him, or that he’ll even be alive and well… … .”
Dale closed his mouth as he said that, and Yuffie swallowed her breath quietly, not knowing what to say to the shadow that was cast over Dale.
“… … I will find it.”
But soon, after making up her mind, Upi opened her mouth. Hearing those words, Dale smiled bitterly.
“I hope so too.”
More desperately than anyone else in this world.
* * *
“I will assassinate the Margrave of Rosenheim and quickly leave the territory.”
That night, the ‘revolutionary warriors’ who had infiltrated the Margrave of Rosenheim finally began to move.
To penetrate deep into the enemy’s heart and strike down the enemy of the revolution with one blow.
They were equipped with armor that contained the essence of the revolution and magic engineering. And it contained power that was incomparable to the armor of the Iron Age that was being distributed until now.
bang!
The sound of an explosion echoed. The swirling magical power turned into flames and engulfed the entire area of the castle.
“Explosion, explosion!”
“It’s the enemy!”
The silence in the castle was finally broken, and silhouettes began to move in the commotion.
They were black gold silhouettes covered with a black texture as smooth as silicon.
In any case, the Margrave of Rosenheim, as his name suggests, is one of the most powerful nobles in the Nine Empires. That is why those guarding his castle were by no means mere mercenaries.
The era in which magic is dying does not mean that magic is dead. It is just that the number of magicians, who are extremely rare, has decreased, and their power and skills have become incomparable to those of the past.
Magic is dead, and the prestige of the emperor and the nobles is no longer what it used to be. In a sense, they too are dying.
It was the job of a new zeitgeist to fill the gap between technology and republicanism, the things that were fading and dying.
“Those traitors… …!”
The knights, desperately drawing out their strength by exploding their aura hearts, readjusted their swords in front of the warriors of the revolution.
Furthermore, supporting the knights of the vanguard, the wizards accelerated their mana circles.
The circle accelerated and magic scattered, and their magic had no color.
It was not a fiery red, nor a blue of wisdom and cunning, nor even achromatic.
Perhaps in the old world Dale remembers, it would be questionable whether it could even be considered magic.
That was the only magical entity left in this world.
Black and gold silhouettes armed with ‘Type 2 armor’ kicked the ground and swung their swords.
The pitch-black blade swung, and the knights who were desperately squeezing their auras in front of it fell down helplessly, unable to properly block the sword.
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This is not an era where one strong man can take on a hundred men. However, the Type 2 Iron Age here is undoubtedly a force capable of overwhelming a hundred men.
“Protect His Majesty the Marquis!”
“Those revolutionary bastards… …!”
The knights and soldiers under Margrave Rosenheim desperately blocked their path. However, there was no way that the knights who could wield the Auror Blade could deal with the magic armor that rivaled even the Auror Master’s avatar.
Blood was splattered.
The pitch-black sword danced through the knights, and the two-type iron cavalry crossed the passage within the castle, following the internal map of the castle that had been obtained earlier.
Just then, a shadow blocked their path.
“Rather than absorbing mana into the body, it processes mana in the air within the armor.”
The shadow opened its mouth as if it was curious.
“So, can you unleash powers that rival the Auror Master’s Avatar?”
“… … !”
The Type 2 Iron Cavalrymen, armed with black and gold armor, held their breath at the awe-inspiring shadow. Still, nothing changed.
“Who developed that armor with that level of technology?”
Before the shadow could even finish asking his question, the iron knights charged forward, kicking the ground.
Immediately afterwards, shadowy tentacles rose from beneath the man’s feet.
As soon as the tentacles rose, the iron knights swung the swords they were holding in their hands. They were pitch-black swords imbued with magical power. And the black color that was imbued in the sword was very familiar.
I cut off the shadow’s tentacles and quickly distanced myself from them. It was fast. The shadow raised its head again and looked at them.
Black armor, and a black sword.
“… … .”
How long have I wandered in this world? I thought I had found a clue to the past and desperately searched for it, but in the end, I was just wandering again and again. Those were the days of wandering again and again.
The emptiness was so painful and miserable. I thought there was no point in wandering any longer.
That is, until that very day, when Yuffie’s village was annihilated by the revolutionary leaders.
They brought Dale back into the world. Once again, a clue to the past was before him.
Dale’s wanderings were not short, as he was overcome with joy and sorrow at every single clue.
“I will ask.”
Despite that, nothing changed.
“Who developed that armor?”
“Do you really think I’ll dare tell you that secret… !”
“I will tell you.”
Dale answered coldly.
“Because no one can lie to me about the truth.”
As he said this, the Shadow Lord stretched out his arm.
At the same time, Dale’s black robe fluttered. The shadow beneath the robe spread out like a lake, engulfing the entire area.
Kieeeek!
Immediately afterwards, an ear-piercing scream echoed from the shadows.
At the same time, the Shadow Lurkers began to spurt their stinging tentacles at the Iron Knights.
“What can make you speak secrets with your mouths?”
The living thorns of darkness rushed toward the armor of the revolution.
“Can pain make it speak?”
Kwajik!
The thorny tentacles continued to plunge into the armor of the iron knights, piercing through the gaps in the armor. Screams echoed.
As the tentacles of the shadow lurkers began to tear off the armor, the flesh that was fused with the armor began to be torn off along with it.
Endless screams echoed through the pain that could not even be compared to what had been experienced before.
The Shadow Lord walked calmly amidst the screams.
“Oh, do you really think you can break our will with something like pain… … !”
But even in the face of the pain of having their skin peeled off and their flesh torn and torn apart, the revolutionary warriors did not give in.
For a moment, I wondered what kind of revolution it was that was worth enduring such pain.
Dale lowered his head and stared at their shadows wrapped around the tentacles.
Then the truth that could not be hidden in the shadows was revealed. That was all. Just as no one can escape from their own shadow, no one can hide their truth from the Shadow Lord.
“Okay.”
At those words, Dale extended his arm, and the shadow lurkers began to tear at their armor and bones in a frenzy.
The shadows of the area began to turn blood red, like ink dissolving in water.
There was nothing left in this world to love. There was no reason to show mercy.
After thinking about it that far, Yupi’s face came to mind without me realizing it.
* * *
This happened right after Dale defeated the revolutionary assassins, a group of iron men armed with Type 2 armor.
“Thanks to you, I was able to save my life.”
Margrave Rosenheim bowed his head in front of him and expressed his gratitude.
“I wonder when the hell those revolutionary army guys developed such a new weapon… … ”
“It’s not a new weapon.”
But Dale soon shook his head and answered, remembering the truth of the armor he had glimpsed and revealed through the shadows.
“It is nothing more than a legacy of the past.”
“A legacy from the past? No way… … ”
“Do you know about the Fourth Reich?”
“Ah, you mean the Great Demon Empire, unprecedented in the history of the continent. It is said that the Great Emperor of Black Gold ruled… … ”
“… … .”
Dale smiled bitterly when he heard that. It was true.
An old empire that is treated as a distant legend by people of this era.
“I also only know what other people know. One day, for no reason, he disappeared into the history of the continent… … .”
Dale nodded after hearing that.
“The weapons these revolutionary forces are using are relics unearthed from that very empire.”
I still don’t know if we can call it the answer.
But what Dale had in his hands was a clue closer and more unmistakable than ever.
